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England: Pickford, Walker, Konsa, Burn, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Jones, Foden, Bellingham, Rashford, Kane.
Subs: Dean Henderson, Trafford, James, Guehi, Jordan Henderson, Colwill, Eze, Rogers, Gordon, Solanke, Bowen, Livramento.
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Albania: Strakosha, Balliu, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Aliji, Laci, Ramadani, Asllani, Asani, Uzuni, Nedim Bajrami.
Subs: Kastrati, Sherri, Shehu, Manaj, Mihaj, Kumbulla, Medon Berisha, Muci, Ismajli, Pajaziti, Hoxha, Broja.
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Referee: Alejandro Hernandez (Spain).
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It’s the start of England’s bid to win the 2026 World Cup. It’s the first game of the Thomas Tuchel era. It’s a showdown with Albania, who are zero-and-six against the Three Lions, England having rattled up an historical aggregate score of 19-1. On balance, then, this is intriguing rather than exciting, though it’ll be quite the story should the Kuqezinjtë – the Red and Blacks – break precedent and steal away from Wembley with a point or more. It’s number four in the Fifa rankings versus number 65. It should be a home banker. It kicks off at 7.45pm GMT. And it’s on.
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Important Events
25 minutes: Baliu fires up to the right and makes the night run, when Albania first decided. But he cannot pass by the busy Bellingham.
23 minutes: Albania is now pushing upfield even more. It's not that they're watching the ball anymore. It remains to be seen whether opening is a good idea. “According to my fellow Scots, this story of Tommy Touchel is just “too confusing,” writes Justin Cabana. “'We had a German coach decades ago and we won the Euro as manager and we won the World Cup as a player,” I left it. ”
21 min: Lewis Skelly makes sure to enjoy his celebration with the crowd. His arm waving happily. And why? What a player. What an impact. And then we went to hell with the fun police.
goal! England 1-0 Albania (Lewis Skelly 19)
England remains patient. Then suddenly exhale. Bellingham spins into space in the middle of the park, enters a box, extends Asani and slips through the left channel of Lewis Skelly, thrusting under Outrush Strakosha for his debut goal! A season when young Arsenal defenders are having fun!
17 minutes: Kane goes down the middle of the park and enters a box. He is troubled from behind by Baliu and cannot shoot a shot. Strakosha was finally put to work and suffocated by the English captain's feet.
16 minutes: Consa shovels forward and almost releases the walker from the channel on the right. Cleared Albania. Foden whips from the right. Albania is cleared again. Albanian target Strakosha has done nothing so far, and his defenses were well-excavated.
14 minutes: Jones elegantly slams to the right, reaching the byline and pulling back for Kane, but Aslani arrives just in time. England warms up slowly.
13 minutes: Bellingham and Rashford are once again combined to the left, but the rice cuts are misguided, causing decent moves to fall apart.
11 minutes: Bellingham drops his shoulders as he advances down the left channel, and suddenly England creates the ground in the last third of that. He tries one-on-two with Rashford, but that's not entirely true. For a moment it looked promising.
9 minutes: This is all from an English ownership perspective – in fact Albania had barely touched them – but visitors have so far held the host at arm length. Nothing happens in the last third. As a result, Wembley fell a bit quietly.
7 minutes: Walker dribbles to the right and tries to hold a few black and red shirts in between. He falls and expects a free kick, but he hasn't got it. Throw it to Albania. Walker temporarily considers drawing linemen into philosophical interactions, but he thinks about it better.
5 minutes: Consa loops the pass through the center and almost finds Bellingham at the penalty spot. Ajeti stretches out the legs to lock them in and clean them, but you will need to swipe that leg twice to complete the first part of its defensive action. For a moment, he seemed to give Bellingham a big opportunity, but he wasn't there.
3 minutes: Albania sits on a low block. Rice sees a lot of balls during these early exchanges, urging them to this.
2 minutes: The UK immediately snuffs its possessions and passes it behind for a while. Everyone finds their feet.
Albania rolls the ball. This was England's 20th World Cup qualifier at New Wembley, and they haven't lost one yet or scored one.
I remember George East Ham, a 1966 World Cup team member who passed away in December. The warmest applause for one of the greats.
The team is out! White, Albanian black and red england. If the national anthem is sung, sing, enjoying, or endure, we will be off, but they can see it and live to live.
Thomas Tuchel talks to ITV. “Big opportunity… I'm a little nervous…but I'm even more excited…I'm happy to be able to travel…it was a very easy decision to bring [Dan Burn into the squad] …He had a big final and impact here a few days ago…We didn't want to get in the way of his waves…he's a good run…it could have been Levi Colwill, but we chose Dan…I can absolutely understand how everyone loves [Myles Lewis-Skelly] …Big personality…Big character…He's ready to go… [Marcus Rashford] A gentle guy… we got some smiles from him… he enjoys going back to camp… Anthony Gordon came out from behind the red card, so it was a close race… brought energy… we play on the front foot… attacking and attacking…
Pablo Zabareta, former assistant coach of Albania for Manchester City and West Ham, speaks to ITV. “It's great to be back in the UK. That's certainly true… we're hoping for a very difficult match… They have a new coach… new ideas… we're focused… we're positive… we have a good team… we're organized… we can't have some opportunities… it's difficult, but we're positive.”
…But now I'm starting to think about it, perhaps more relevant to relive England's last time they met Albania, not. Below is how they left home during the qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup.
Retro MBM section. Walker's first England game was against the then world champions Spain in 2011. Which game has Frank Lampard's second half header decided from 3 inches? no? Okay, but if you want to change your mind, you have the option to click below.
Kyle Walker – who debuted under Fabio Capello and then played for Roy Hodgson, Sam Alladies, Gareth Southgate and Lee Carsley – speaks to ITV. “It was good…it's exciting… a new era…I fully enjoyed it under Gareth Southgate… many great memories…turning pages…Twoshell wants a high-intensity game…I want to be smarter in energy too…We don't want it to be 6-6…We want to win at the end of the day.”
Thomas Tuchel begins his reign as manager of England by handing out two new caps. Wembley scorer instant Dan Byrne and Arsenal genius Miles Lewis Skelly are debutants five days before Newcastle quelled the 70-year domestic thirst. Marcus Rashford started in England for the first time since facing Malta in November 2023.
Albania is captained by Atalanta defender Berato Jim City. Kristjan Aslani from Nedim Bajrami, the winger of Internazionale and Rangers, will also begin. Armando Bruja, currently available for loan at Everton, is on the bench. Silvinho, formerly manager of Arsenal and Manchester City, played for Brazil's Old Wembley in 2000 in a 1-1 draw, and was Celesao's assistant boss at New Wembley in 2017, where England and Brazil performed a goalless draw.
team
England: Pickford, Walker, Consa, Byrne, Lewis Skelly, Rice, Jones, Foden, Bellingham, Rashford, Kane.
Submarines: Dean Henderson, Trafford, James, Gaehe, Jordan Henderson, Colwill, Ez, Rogers, Gordon, Solanke, Bowen, Livrament.
Albania: Strakosha, Balliu, Ajeti, Djimsiti, Aliji, Laci, Ramadani, Aslalani, Asani, Uzuni, Nedim Bajrami.
Submarines: Kastrati, Sherri, Shehu, Manaj, Mihaj, Kumbulla, Medon Berisha, Muci, Ismajli, Pajaziti, Hoxha, Broja.
Judgment: Alejandro Hernandez (Spain).
preamble
This is the beginning of England's bid to win the 2026 World Cup. This is the first game in the Thomas Tuchel era. This was a showdown with Albania, where Albania was zero and six against the three lions, and the UK rattled its historic overall score of 19-1. To balance it, this is more interesting than exciting, but it's going to be quite a story. Kuqezinjtë – Red and Black – Break precedents and steal from Wembley for more than points. This is fourth in the FIFA rankings and number 65. It must be a home bunker. It starts at 7:45pm on GMT. And it's on.
